Jesse Jackson Jr. update (11/13/12)

-Hi, I'm Danny Ecker with your Chicago Business Today midday report. New developments this morning on the JesseJackson, Jr. front. The congressman has left the Mayo Clinic where he was being treated for depression and bipolar disorder. And now, as the Wall Street Journal first reported, a federal investigation and a possible misuse of campaign money for the Jackson's family's Washington townhouse now involves his wife, 7th ward alderman Sandi Jackson. Here with the latest is our Greg Hinz. Greg, let's be clear here. How did this sort of investigation come about and how is Sandi Jackson involved here? -Well, the feds have been looking at Congressman Jackson for a while. It started with the-- with reports that he tried to get-- a friend of his tried to get an appointment with the United States Senate if they had raised money for Rod Blagojevich, the then governor who was gonna make the appointment. But the way this federal investigation says it were-- 'cause one thing leads to another. That apparently led to a look at how he was using his campaign money whether he was using it for-- for personal items, which apparently led to his wife. -So, we've got no comment here from the congressman or from Sandi Jackson. What our source is saying, I guess, it's likely to happen next year. -Well, it sure looks like the end is coming quickly. The congressman reportedly heads up to with a really big name [unk] web and is involved-- and said to be involved in plea negotiations for a deal that might result in some prison time. -You wrote that federal prosecutors may be potentially playing some hardball-- could potentially use a tactic that they used for prosecuting former governor George Ryan. -Federal prosecutors play the hardest form of ball known to man. What they did in George Ryan's case is they were able-- they were able to get his then chief aide, Scott Fawell, to flip and they did it by threatening to go after Scott Fawell's girlfriend. Well, it's not hard to connect those dots with here. They're going after Congressman Jackson, so they threaten to indict Mrs. Jackson. Maybe it makes the old man a little more willing to-- to counterplea. -Okay Greg. We'll-- We'll watch this one. Thanks a lot.